Generally, hand-held type opening and closing action tools having a mechanism for cutting or expanding or contracting an article by means of front active pieces adapted to perform opening and closing motion around the axis of a pivot are in wide use as manual sharp-edged tools typified by various types of scissors and as manual tools such as pliers, nippers and strippers. The front active pieces are usually made of metal material, worked into sharp blades or pointed pins or jaws, entailing the danger of nipping and hurting the user's fingers.
To speak of scissors, for example, the conventional scissors are so arranged that a cutting blade serving as a front active piece and an opening and closing operation lever forming a base end arm are made into a continuous integral rigid body and such a pair are pivotally connected together by a pivot in the intermediate region thereof. Although the pair of cutting blades are maintained in the closed state when the scissors are not in use, nevertheless the cutting edges are left exposed and still dangerous and it is unsuitable for the user to carry about him the scissors in the exposed state received in the pocket of his garment or in his bag. Even if the scissors have a mechanism for locking the sharp cutting blades in their closed state, they can hardly be said to be safe unless the cutting blades are covered.
Thus, it may be contemplated to receive the whole scissors completely in a case or cover the cutting blades alone as by a sheath in the same manner as when they are displayed for sale in a shop. However, such a case or sheath is separate from the scissors, so that it is necessary to additionally prepare the same. Even if it is prepared as an auxiliary, it would be troublesome to put in and out the scissors and the auxiliary would often be lost. Furthermore, even if the scissors are stored in such a case or sheath, the scissors do not become compact; on the contrary, they become more bulky. The scissors would move freely in the case or sheath, which is inconvenient to carry about.